Opportunities for Caribbean Music from a European perspective Perspective of Billy Grant, MD of Independent European label and management company 2Point9
The internet has made the worldwide music market smaller
Pros: Removed many barriers to entry
Cons: Clutter Recent international successes Indian music Korean music African music
Personal 2Point9 experience
• Have worked with a number of artists whose music was perceived as ‘niche’ • Have come up with a number of strategies to build on existing audiences • Then reached out to new audiences
The result of this strategy The artists who never went full mainstream
Sold records worldwide Received worldwide exposure Toured worldwide Made a decent living
The artists who went mainstream Sold records worldwide (inc USA Billboard No 1) Received worldwide exposure Toured worldwide Made a decent living
Keys to success
Music is good quality Music has unique qualities The music is presented in a professional way The team around the music is professional The music is presented in a way that the audience can easily discover and consume • Much thought is put into the marketing of the music • Timing. Luck. Perserverence • • • • •
Digital Distribution Still key. Just under 40% of trade revenue in 2013 Subscription services surged 51.3% in 2013 (passing $1bn in 2013) Emerging markets – Latin America fast growth. Africa growth expected Technology - key for marketing and distribution
Broadband Penetration Broadband penetration relatively low in Caribbean • Cayman islands - 15th – 33% of population • St Kitts then Anguilla then BVI then Barbados • Jamaica is 4.3% (109th) - 125k .. In comparison • India - 1% (13m connections)
Mobile Penetration • UK - 72% penetration - 45 mill - 14th • Barbados - 45th - 100k (36%) • Antigua – 72nd - 17k - (20%) • Jamaica – 128th - 45k (1.6%)
• Trinidad – 131st - 18k (1.5%)
How do you go about marketing your music internationally?
The million dollar question
Build existing marketplace locally using media Radio, TV, Online, Press, Club, Networks, Sync, Live
Grow out from existing marketplace to new markets In-house or local marketeers?
Getting your music to market Distribution (retaining your rights) Digital distribution relatively easy to achieve
Ingrooves, orchard, believe digital/ zimbalam, Tunecore
Downloads, streaming, syncing, marketing, Tools
Pros: Retain rights Income better
Cons: Lots of work Lack of local knowledge
Licensing Give rights of masters to label
Pros: They do the hard work, they have local knowledge Cons: Less income, less control
Synchronisation (TV, advertising, film) Great way of getting exposure Gatekeepers
Publishers Music supervisors Advertising agencies Consultant marketing professionals
Thinking out the box Lets look at areas where the Caribbean already has penetration and ride off the back of it.
Examples: Piggy back existing events Live events Sporting events
Developing strategy for Caribbean as ONE music region
Using exposure to leverage additional opportunities Live performances
Brand association Merchandising
VIP packages Physical special packaging (CD, vinyl)
Global club nights
Collaborations Local musicians, artists, writers, producers, labels forming alliances with international musicians, artists, writers, producers, labels. Examples to date:
Reggaeton fusion (Puerto Rico/UK) Chutney fusion (Trinidad/India) Soca fusion (Barbados/UK) Japanese hip hop fusion (Japan/UK) Lil Wayne, Britney Spears (mainstream)
Finding local partners
Summary Organise from home territory first then reach out internationally Look at ways to makethe music experience unique and different Marketing is key. Who will market and how? Think out of the box to create more opportunities Collaborate with local partners across all areas Greater synergy between countries. Bigger territory – bigger international attention
Billy Grant Managing Director, 2Point9 +447894585381
billythebee99@gmail.com